Page 23 of Accidentally Falling for My Fake Wife

PullTheLine:You were at the game?

NotJOsSis:Of course!

NotJOsSis:I try to get to as many home games as I can.

NotJOsSis:There’s nothing like watching a game at the stadium.

PullTheLine:I was at the game too.

NotJOsSis:You were?

NotJOsSis:What a small world…

My finger hovers over the send button, hesitating to send the message I typed.

Do I want to open this can of worms?

“Yes,” I say to no one. “I want to meet him, make sure he’s real, and see if this thing between us could be anything more than an online connection.”

NotJOsSis:If you go again…maybe we should meet?

My heart tries to jump out of my chest when I hit send. My stomach drops, and I hold my breath. Staring at my screen, waiting for him to respond.

After a few minutes of radio silence, I close the app and lean back on the couch.

I drop my head in my hands and sigh. My life is getting too much like one of my rom-coms, and right now, it kind of feels like the plot ofYou’ve Got Mail.

I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly, hoping that the tightness in my chest will loosen.

It’s not unusual for me to use events in my life to generate my tropes, but they rarely includemy actuallife.

My last book was inspired by Bill, Pleasant Hollows local mechanic, and his wife Maureen’s real-life romance. It was the sweetest story. They met in grade school and were each other’s first crushes. Maureen moved out of state, and twenty years later, they reconnected when Bill was called out to help service a broken-down car in the middle of town.

The rest is history—for them and my novel. Of course, I changed their careers and names to protect the innocent.

But this story is different. It has way too much of me in it, leaving me feeling exposed and uncertain. Shouldn’t writing my story be easy?

Maybe there’s something wrong with me? Like, really wrong with me?

I pick up the throw pillow and hug it close to my chest as I contemplate the two men who have consumed my thoughts. A tightness grips me, and I feel weighed down by the uncertainty flooding me.

My reaction to Adam is different from anything I’ve ever experienced before. I was drawn to him the first moment I saw him. It was like a magnetic pull. Talking to him for hours only made that attraction more intense.

Then there’s Chase. I feel drawn to him, too, even though I’m not sure he’s actually who he says he is.

I drop my head into the pillow and groan.

How can I feel a pull towards both individuals…at the same time?

My phone vibrates, and my heart leaps. It drops onto my stomach when I see Brie's name across the screen.

“Hey, Brie,” I sigh, and rest my head on the back of the couch.

“What’s wrong?” Brie asks, her concern wrapping around me. “Writer’s block again?”

“No, just my love life,” I groan. “Or lack thereof.”

“Did Brian call?”

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